In Case of Emergency
by callmeditzy
Summary: One by one, the people in Hyde's life help him smarten up and pull his head out of his nether regions.
1. Red

Disclaimer: All characters and their histories belong to someone who isn't me.

A/N: This takes place in the "present" so includes spoilers for anything that's already aired in the U.S. It's mostly Hyde centric, but what's Hyde without Jackie?

IN CASE OF EMERGENCY

Chapter 1 - Red

Hyde sat at the kitchen table, staring at the stack of papers in front of him. His head rested wearily in his hands and his eyes began to glaze over as he tried to make sense of the legal jargon. The trademark shades rested on the table, off to one side. This was some serious business and he needed to see clearly.

_Man, why didn't I fill these stupid papers out when WB first sent them? Now I've got to make all of these stupid decisions and I don't give a damn about any of them. What do I care which HMO screws me out of my not-so-hard-earned money? What a scam._

Hyde's inner rant was interrupted by Red's whistling as he slid open the patio door and strolled into the kitchen. His unusually cheerful demeanor was in sharp contrast to the younger man's defeated one.

Happy to catch Red in a rare moment of contentment, Hyde took the opportunity to ask him a favor. "Hey, Red. Can I ask you something?"

Grabbing an apple from the fruit basket, Red turned around, leaning back against the counter. "What's the matter? You forget how to read?" He smiled, satisfied with himself, as he bit into his apple.

Hyde smirked at him. "Ha ha. I'm not Laurie."

Red's face clouded over and his eyebrows furrowed as he glared. Hyde mentally prepared himself for the Wrath of Red. He knew from experience that, of all the topics that get Red hot under the color, Laurie's…shortcomings were high on the list. Just under The Fallibility of the United States Government, but above Idiot Foreign Drivers.

Inexplicably, the anger left Red's face and he merely shrugged as he turned his attention back to his snack. Hyde was speechless. He turned his hands over on the table, palms up, and raised his shoulders in silent question. Had Mr. Forman gone soft on him?

"You know, Steven, Laurie may not be the brightest bulb on the tree," Red began, using the tone he reserved for lecturing the boys. "Kitty and I spent many a night worrying about how she'd turn out."

Oh God. Now he was laying on the guilt, which was weird coming from him. That was usually _Mrs._ Forman's M.O. Hyde found it disconcerting. He wasn't sure he liked this kindler, gentler Red Forman.

"But I've gotta say, she's turned out a hell of a lot better than we were afraid she might. After all, she could have ended up a stripper." He exaggerated his last word, lowering his apple and looking pointedly at Hyde before grinning victoriously.

_There it is! The Red I know and love. _"Nice," Hyde offered in defeat and just a touch of admiration. Too absorbed in the task waiting for him on the table, couldn't think of a clever response. He just bobbed his head slightly, returning his gaze to the documents spread in front of him. Red joined him at the table, sitting in his usual seat.

"What you got there?" he asked, gesturing toward the stack of papers.

"It's, um, medical stuff. For work. I've got to fill out these forms for the insurance company."

"Ah, welcome to the world of being a grown-up, Son. There's a lot of forms. A lot of standing in lines, and spending money buying things you don't want and trying to avoid idiot foreign drivers, but mostly? There's a lot of forms."

"Yeah, I'm finding that out," Hyde responded dryly. "So what I needed from you is your phone number at the shop. And Mrs. Forman's at the hospital, too, if you have it."

"What for?"

Trying to sound casual, Hyde answered, "Well, I need to put someone down as my emergency contact person and I just kind of figured…you'd do."

"Really." It was supposed to be a question, but sounded more like a statement.

"Yeah, man. I mean, you guys signed all my permission slips and detention notes and all that other school crap, so I thought, 'Hell, we've had a good run. Why not extend the tour?'"

"Well, your tour of living in my basement has been extended beyond the limits of reason, so I guess that makes sense."

Hyde grinned, knowing Red was just giving him a hard time as usual. But after a moment, the smile faded and he was quiet, serious now. He looked down at his hands as he continued, trying to explain himself to his best friend's father. He wanted Red to understand why, after all he and Mrs. Forman had done for him, he was asking for yet another favor.

"Look, I can't put my mom because I don't even know where she is right now. Not that I'd want her anyway. And there's my dad, but he's not all that close by and…"

He sighed, frustrated with himself because he wasn't saying it right.

"I just…I feel like…you guys have been more like parents to me than either of them anyway." He had to rush to get the last part out and he was slightly out of breath.

Red just looked at the boy, taken slightly aback. He knew how hard it was for someone like Hyde to say something like that, to admit something like that. He knew because it was just as hard for him. They were a lot alike, he and Hyde. They both needed people to think they were tough, like nothing ever got to them. But there were times when pride had to be pushed aside, and this was one of them. He reached over, gripped Hyde's shoulder firmly, and looked him straight in the eye.

"Son, nowhere is it written that you have to list your biological parents as your emergency contacts. Or anything else for that matter," he added.

The tone in Red's voice did nothing to conceal his feelings about Hyde's parents and their treatment of their son. For as much as he gave Eric a hard time, he couldn't fathom how Bud and Edna could abandon their only child. WB seemed to have stepped up to the plate, but part of Red felt like it was too late in coming. The truth was, there were many times over the last few years that he had felt like he himself was the boy's father, at least in the ways that mattered. And this was definitely one of those times.

He felt downright paternal as he continued dispensing his fatherly advice.

"This is not a decision to be taken lightly, Steven. You should choose the person you would trust with life and death decisions. Who would know you well enough to tell the doctors important information. The one you'd want to notify your friends if you were in an accident. The person whose face you'd want to see after regaining consciousness."

He paused to let his words sink in. But mostly because, though he'd deny it later, he was getting choked up at the thought of Hyde lying unconscious at Point Place General. He coughed then, regaining his voice. "Kitty and I would be happy to be that person for you. Proud," he amended. "We'd be proud."

Hyde was visibly relieved. He let out the breath he didn't realize he had been holding. "Thanks, man."

"You're welcome." Red smiled, satisfied that he had gotten that little speech out fairly painlessly. He felt like he was on a roll, so he continued. "Mind if I ask you something, though?"

"Sure." Hyde shrugged, relaxed now that the sappiness was over.

"Why didn't you put down your wife's name?"

The silent stare that answered him told Red that the thought was entering Hyde's mind for the very first time. His suspicions confirmed, he continued, "You know, it is customary for a man to list his wife as his emergency contact."

Red's words hung silently in the air for several moments. He wondered if Hyde was figuring out what he and Kitty had known from the beginning: that while he and Samantha might be having a lot of fun shacked up, what they had was nothing close to a marriage. He hoped he was.

Finally deciding to leave Hyde alone with his thoughts, Red stood. But there was something that he'd been meaning to tell him, although he never could seem to find the right time. Maybe now was it. "You know, Steven…" He paused to clear his throat. "Kitty and I have kept mostly quiet about some of the…choices you've made this year because, well, you're a grown man now and your life is your own to lead. And part of being a man is living with the consequences of your…"

Hyde stood up, shaking his head and lifting his hand to interrupt. "I know what you're gonna say, Red, and I get it. 'I made my bed', right? You can spare me the lecture."

"Actually, I wasn't finished. Although that is an unusual remark coming from someone so newly married," he added with more than a trace of sarcasm. It wasn't lost on Hyde as he sat back down to hear the rest.

"What I was _going_ to say was that the other part of being a man, the hardest part, is admitting when your decisions were wrong. And doing whatever it takes to fix it." He looked down sympathetically at Hyde, who was staring silently ahead into middle distance. He knew the boy well enough to know he wouldn't get a response from him, but he felt compelled to add, "Even when it seems easier to just keep it broken."

Satisfied that he had said his peace and fulfilled his parental duty in giving Hyde something to think about, he patted the boy's shoulder twice and headed toward the driveway. As he reached to open the sliding-glass door, he changed his mind. He turned and walked back through the kitchen, heading toward the living room. Where he knew he would find Kitty. He smiled to himself, glad that she was _his_ emergency contact.


	2. Kelso and Fez

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who's reviewed. Hope you enjoy this next chapter!

Chapter 2: Kelso and Fez

"Come on, Hyde. I wanna _do_ something. I didn't drive all this way to sit around Eric's basement."

Kelso was whining and, while it was annoying, Hyde really couldn't blame him. He had been planning this trip for weeks and was only going to be in town for the weekend. It was the first time he'd been back since he did the responsible thing and moved to Chicago to be with Brooke and Betsy. Hyde smirked, thinking only Kelso could convince anyone that taking a job at a Playboy club was "the responsible thing".

"I know you want to, Hyde," Fez chimed in. "I can see a little smile. Do I need to tickle it out of you?" he asked as if talking to a baby.

"Tickle me and you'll be eating M&Ms with your toes for the rest of your life," Hyde threatened.

Kelso walked behind the couch where Fez sat pouting and approached Hyde. He was sitting in his chair, arms folded stubbornly across his chest. He didn't look near ready to crack, but Kelso was determined to convince him.

"Hey. We can go wherever you want to. Hub? Putt putt? Water tower? You name it. Oh! We can steal stuff!" he offered, enticingly.

Kelso blinked rapidly, puzzled by Hyde's blank expression. He tried again. "Um…spray paint stuff?"

Hyde uncrossed his arms and sighed. He did want to hang out with the guys, but he was just so damn tired. He hadn't slept much the night before; couldn't get his little talk with Red out of his head. Damn Red, thinking he knew everything about everything. Sure, he had been married to Mrs. Forman for, like, a million years, but that didn't make him an expert on all things matrimonial. Just because he and Mrs. Forman had this traditional little life together and were "best friends" and all that other crap didn't mean every couple had to be just like them.

Hell, it wasn't that way for Bob and Midge. Certainly not for Bud and Edna. And it wasn't going to be that way for him and Sam. So what? He didn't need to have a wife that knew him better than anyone else, or whatever it was that Red had said. He didn't want that anyway. No one knew him better than himself, and he was going to keep it that way. Letting people see too deep inside always blew up in his face, and he wasn't going to let it happen. Not again.

Nope, what he and Sam had was fine. She let him do whatever he wanted, never demanded anything of him, and brought him beer without even being asked. Hell, the only time she ever argued with him was when he needed her to rile him up for sex. It was the perfect relationship: simple and easy.

Hyde sighed again as he stood up. "Why don't we just go out tomorrow night? I'm beat, man."

"Because tomorrow night we're going out with Donna and Jackie."

Crap. He had forgotten about Donna's bright idea to "get the whole gang together again". Didn't she realize "the whole gang" didn't exist anymore? "Oh, right. That'll be fun," he answered, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Jeez, Hyde! What are you so grumpy for?"

"Oh, he's like this all the time now," Fez explained to his friend. "Maybe it's the pressure of trying to run a business from this couch. Or," Fez continued, using a singsong voice and batting his eyelashes. "Maybe he misses you."

Kelso shrugged his shoulders, tilting his head to one side. "Yeah, I can see that." He straightened up, thrusting his fists onto his hips. He pointed a threatening finger at Hyde. "But you've got to snap out of it! What do you have to complain about anyway? I mean, look at me. Sure, I get to look at half-naked hot chicks all day, but I don't get to touch any of them. You've got a stripper. In your bed. Every. Night."

He let his words sink in while Hyde just nodded casually.

Kelso smiled. "Man, I bet she wants it every night, doesn't she?" He watched as Hyde sunk back onto his chair. Kelso, in turn, sat on the couch and leaned in toward him.

"Well, yeah, most of the time anyway," Hyde admitted with fake resistance. He pretended not to notice Fez whimpering or Kelso biting his hand. "But it's killing me. I'm exhausted."

Kelso shook his head in disbelief. "Man, you're living every teenage guy's fantasy. Go out to Vegas, nail a hot stripper. Then she follows you home and wants to keep giving you hot sex all the time? That's awesome, man!"

"You lucky son of a bitch," Fez added, glaring at Hyde.

"Yeah. It was pretty awesome," Hyde agreed, a cocky smile on his face. "Problem now is, I set the bar too high. Those three weeks in Vegas were like a Twister marathon, and it's hard to keep that up, man. I can't think of anything else to do to her," he admitted, surprised himself at his predicament. "I'm, like, tapped out."

Kelso jumped back and Fez gasped. "No!"

Hyde shook his head sadly. "It's true, man. And she expects some kind of circus performance every damn day. Do you know what kind of pressure it is to keep a stripper satisfied? Do you?" he asked, his voice rising.

Fez and Kelso looked at each other incredulously, then back at Hyde. Their lower lips jutted out and their eyebrows arched in fake sympathy.

"Oh, you poor baby," Fez said dryly.

Kelso was jealous. _He_ should be the one with a stripper, not Hyde. Probably could be, too, if he wasn't with Brooke. _Damn Molly Hatchet._

"Dude, are you serious?" Kelso was almost disgusted with his friend. "You've been with tons of chicks. You ever run out of tricks before?"

Before Hyde could answer, Fez jumped in. "Kelso, most of Hyde's girls were a one-time-only deal. He only had time for three tricks, tops."

He turned to Hyde, who was glaring at him threateningly.

"Okay, four."

Hyde relaxed his stance, temporarily placated.

Kelso's eyes lit up with realization. "That's right, Hyde! You've had sex with a lot of chicks, but they've all been _different_ chicks and very few repeats. All this time we thought it was Eric, but it's you!" He pointed an accusing finger. "_You_ suck in bed!"

Hyde rolled his eyes. "I do not…" He cut himself off, deciding against arguing such a stupid point. "Shut the hell up, Kelso."

Fez nodded in support, shifting his gaze from Hyde to Kelso. "Yes, Kelso. Shut the hell up. Hyde is a magnificent lover. I have seen it with my own eyes."

"What!" Hyde asked, disgusted.

"Well, I heard with my own ears," Fez conceded. "I supplied my own visuals…up here," he whispered, pointing to his forehead.

Kelso was intrigued. "So what did you hear?" he challenged, then continued in a falsetto voice, "'Is that all you got, Hyde?'"

Reaching over to the couch, Hyde frogged him hard. But he remained silent.

Fez squeezed his eyes shut, wrinkling his forehead in concentration as he tried to remember. "No, no. That was not it. I think it was 'Don't mess up my hair, Steven'.

Kelso laughed loudly, pointing at Hyde.

Fez remembered something else. "Oh, and also, 'Michael never did _anything_ like _that_!'"

Kelso's laughter ceased immediately. His face lost all expression as Hyde clapped his hands together.

"Sex burn! Well done, Fez," he complimented.

Even Kelso could admit to appreciating such a well-executed burn. "All right, all right. I'll give you that one." He stood in front of the couch and walked a few paces toward Fez's chair, not unlike an attorney beginning his questioning of a witness. "But Fez does bring up an interesting point, Hyde."

Hyde raised his eyebrow, wondering where this was going.

"Not all of your…lustful interactions were with one-night stands," Kelso reminded him. "You were with Jackie for two years."

Hyde shrugged, although he didn't like the direction this conversation was heading. "Yeah? What's your point, Kelso?"

"Well, you kept her happy. And that couldn't have been easy to do, what with me spoiling her and all."

No reaction from Hyde.

"You know, 'cause I'm so _awesome_ in the sack!" he declared, reaching over to Fez for a high-five.

"Yeah, we got that, Kelso. Real clever." Hyde commented sarcastically.

Kelso again sat down and turned to Hyde, looking at him earnestly. "Seriously, man. We want to help you with your problems satisfying your woman."

Hyde only rolled his eyes.

"Now tell us, Hyde," Fez took over the questioning. "How did you keep things going with Jackie? _Sexually_ speaking?"

Hyde stared at him silently for a long while before responding, "I don't remember." He stood up and walked to the freezer for a popsicle, indicating that he had nothing else to say on the topic

Fez turned to Kelso, astonished. "He does not remember! Stripper sex must be as powerful as they say. It can erase your mind!" he whispered. "Ai," he finished, falling back against the couch, overwhelmed by this newly discovered information.

Kelso stood up, following Hyde to the freezer. "No way, man. I don't buy it. I mean, sure, strippers have that whole flexibility thing going on, but so do cheerleaders. Am I right?" he asked, holding his hands out, palms up, waiting for affirmation.

Fez nodded. "Kelso is right. I have helped Jackie with her splits."

Encouraged, Kelso continued talking to Hyde's back. "See? Plus those kicks and jumps she was always practicing made her butt all tight and her thighs all strong." His eyes glazed over, remembering. "Man, she could…"

Hyde turned around slowly, arms crossed, glaring at Kelso. Kelso, in turn, just smiled. He knew he was getting to Hyde and he loved it. It was what they did. _God, he had missed this. _It wasn't like Hyde was going to get pissed for real or anything. He and Jackie were so over. He was married now! By Kelso's calculations, he and Hyde were on equal footing as far as Jackie went. Finally, she was just a mutual ex-girlfriend that they could compare notes about. Isn't that what buddies did?

Fez could tell what his friend was up to and he did not like it. Kelso had not been around this year. He didn't know the "new Hyde". But Fez did. And he scared him. "Um, Kelso? Please stop talking now," he begged.

Kelso was just as stupid as ever. So he continued, "No, seriously. I think those cheerleading coaches must have made them jog, too, because the stamina on that girl was something else."

While Fez cringed, Hyde exhaled loudly and haltingly.

"For the love of God, man!" Fez shouted from the couch.

Kelso walked closer still to Hyde, undeterred. "And, yeah, I know strippers have those enormous racks, I'll give you that. But I think Jackie's were just as good. I mean," he held his hands in front of him, palms facing away, "they were just the right size to…"

That was it. Fez grabbed a pillow and held it over his face as Kelso's words were cut short by Hyde's left hook. He went down like a sack of potatoes.

Fez peeked out from behind his pillow fortress to assess the damage. Hyde was standing above Kelso, clenching his jaw and rubbing his knuckles.

From his prone position on the floor, Kelso hollered, "WHY is he still doing that!"

There was no answer, as Fez was too scared to speak and Hyde was already stomping off to his room and slamming the door. Once inside, he slammed his bruising fists on his dresser and spun around to kick his cot, hurting his foot in the process. His heart was racing and he stood with his palm to his forehead, trying to calm down. Goddamn Kelso. Why did he always have to play the Jackie card? _Because he knows it gets to you, dumbass._ He sat down wearily on his cot, placing his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. Through his closed door, he heard footsteps racing down the stairs and then Donna's voice.

"What the hell happened?"

"Hyde hit me. Again." Kelso was dumbfounded. "Why is he still doing that!" Hyde could hear him scraping himself off the floor.

"Did you do something stupid?" Donna asked condescendingly. "Do I need to get the helmet?"

"No, Donna, I swear. We were just talking about Sam wanting sex all the time…" Kelso began innocently.

"So he hit you?" Donna didn't sound convinced.

Ignoring her question, Kelso continued, "Then Fez wanted to know if Stripper Sex could erase your mind…"

"So _then_ he hit you?" Donna asked impatiently.

"God, Donna! Would you let me finish? Sheez. So then I said it probably wasn't any better than doing it with Jackie and he just…

"Oh!" Donna exclaimed loudly. "I get it. That's all you had to say, Kelso. God, you're an idiot." There was a certain fondness in her voice. Hyde could tell Donna had missed having Kelso around. "Let me get you an ice-pack."

Fez spoke up. "No need, Donna. I will take care of it with this popsicle."

"But Fez-"

"I said popsicle!"

The voices faded then, and Hyde guessed they were watching TV. He knew they'd leave him alone long enough to cool off, at least, so he lay back on his cot, the fingers of his right hand kneading the knuckles of his left. He wondered how Kelso's jaw must feel.

_Bastard deserved it. _Seriously. Where did he get off asking such dumbass questions? 'Did he ever run out of sex tricks with Jackie?' What the hell? Like he would really discuss that with Kelso. Of course, he hadn't, but that was beside the point.

Hyde furrowed his brow, then, surprised by his thoughts. Thinking back, wasn't Hyde with Jackie, like, ten times as long as he'd been with Sam? And he knew he hadn't done half the stuff with her than Sam let him do. So how come he never felt this way with Jackie? Why hadn't he felt this nagging pressure to blow her mind with his sexual prowess? Sex with her had always been great, from the first time to the last, and he never gave it a second thought as to how to keep it that way. It just came naturally. He didn't have to invent ways to keep it exciting.

He never had to deliberately pick random fights with her to get him in the mood, either, for that matter.

Damn Kelso for making him think about this crap. And damn him for pissing him off and making Hyde punch him yet again.

_Where the hell did _that_ come from anyway?_ He hadn't gotten into it with Kelso in a long time. Well, it helped that the dude lived in Chicago now, but still.

_Chicago_.

His chest tightened as he remembered how it had felt to be standing in that hotel room, scared out of his mind because he was about to ask Jackie something he never thought he'd ask _anyone_, yet more scared by the thought of losing her forever if he didn't. But he was happy, too. Happy to know there was someone in his life who wanted nothing more than to be with him forever. Not just 'someone', but a beautiful girl who was willing to give up an amazing job just to be with him. He closed his eyes, then, remembering how gorgeous she looked that night, standing in front of him, so tiny and barefoot. His heart had seemed to literally swell as he looked at her and thought, _I'm going to marry this girl_.

And then there was Kelso. In a towel. And the swollen heart in his chest had instantly exploded, this time crushing his lungs in the process. He had never felt anything like it. Not when he and Jackie had fought, not even the times they'd broken up. Then it had been like a slow-growing ache. But this had blind-sided him. Literally. For a second, he actually could. not. see, the paid was so bad.

Hyde bolted upright, shaking his head violently, trying to rid it of the memory. _God, I thought I was done with this._ But he wasn't. Punching Kelso in the Forman's living room hadn't done it. Screwing Sam hadn't done it. _Marrying_ Sam hadn't done it. Finding out the truth, that nothing had happened in Chicago, hadn't even done it.

Nope. Try as he might, that moment was burned on his brain. Maybe it was a good thing. Maybe remembering how unbelievably crappy he had felt would help him keep from ever being that vulnerable again. It was just one of those Life Lessons: Don't forget who you are. Don't try to be something you weren't meant to be. You venture too far out of your comfort zone, it bites you in the ass.

Hyde exhaled deeply, finally feeling in control again as he talked himself out of his emotions. _You know, I should be grateful to Kelso. He did me a favor. If it weren't for him, I might be married to Jackie right now, probably working some lame job she would have forced me into taking, going to dinner parties and trying to impress a bunch of snobby rich people that I hate. I'd be miserable._

As he rose from the cot, he heard the basement door open and close. But the sound of hushed, deep voices remained. Donna had probably left, but Kelso and Fez were still sitting in the basement. Hyde smiled, thinking of his friends still waiting on him to go out. He was eager to, now; wanted to make things right with Kelso again. But how would he do that when he just clocked the guy?

_I'll just walk out there and pretend nothing ever happened._ He walked confidently through his bedroom door, knowing it would be easy.

After all, he'd been pretending lots of things had never happened lately.


	3. Donna

Disclaimer: Nothing is owned by me.

A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who's read and especially those who've reviewed. It makes so much difference when I write to know that somebody's actually reading! And to those who have asked, this will absolutely be a Jackie/Hyde story by the end, but it's mostly the story of Hyde's journey back to her. It's hard for me, as a J/H fan, to write him thinking mean thoughts about her, but it's where I see him right now. I think he still loves her, but his hurt and anger and pride won't let even himself see that. He's figuring it out, though, don't worry!

In Case of Emergency

Chapter Three: Donna

Donna sat on her bed, thumbing through one of the Cosmos Jackie had left behind when she moved out. She had a problem. A big one, and she needed help. She could tell Randy was starting to like her. It was pretty obvious. And she didn't know what to do about it. More to the point, she didn't know how to sort out her own feelings for him. Sometimes she felt like she might like him, but other times…she just didn't know. And she needed some feminine advice. Badly. The only problem was, she had no one to give it. Her mom was hard to get ahold of and, let's face it, not the best person to be advising others on relationships. Mrs. Forman was pretty smart about these kinds of things, but she was still Eric's mother. And while she had always been more involved in the kids' lives than most mothers, there were _some_ boundaries that Donna just wasn't willing to cross. Jackie…well, Jackie may be her best friend, but she had a big mouth. No way was she taking this one to her. Who did that leave? Hyde's stripper wife? Good Lord. Anyway, she was out-of-town for another convention, so she was out even if Donna _did_ want to talk to her, which she didn't.

So that left Cosmo. _There has to be something in here_, she thought as she flipped through the pages. _A horoscope…a lame quiz…_something

Her embarrassing search was interrupted by a quick knock on the door, followed by Hyde letting himself in. She frantically shoved the magazine under her pillow, then spun back towards the door, a fake smile plastered on her face.

"Hey Donna," Hyde said as he walked further into the room, grinning.

Donna was too focused on hiding the evidence to notice his smile or the fact that Hyde was holding something behind his back.

"Hyde! What's up?" she asked, trying to sound casual.

"Up? Oh, I don't know," he answered with forced nonchalance. "Haven't seen you much lately. Not since Kelso was here last week. Thought we could catch up," he finished, his lips smacking on the final 'p'. He sat at the foot of her bed, facing her.

"Okaay," Donna agreed cautiously. "So….what's new?"

Hyde shook his finger at her. "Oh no, no, no. I'll be asking the questions here. What's new with _you_?"

Obviously Hyde thought he had something on her. Could he tell she had been thinking about Randy? Donna was sure he could tell Randy liked her, but anyone could figure that out. Hell, _Leo_ could probably figure that out. Nope, that wasn't dirty enough dirt. It had to be something big for Hyde to be this revved up about it.

"Nothing much…things are kind of slow at the station right now, so…"

"Uh-huh," Hyde answered, nodding. "And what's new with young Randy? Things with him 'slow', too?"

"What are you getting at, Hyde?" Donna asked, feeling a little annoyed. She was not ready to have this conversation yet. Not when she hadn't even figured out what was going on in her own head.

"Don't play Miss Innocent with me, Donna. I know," he announded proudly.

_He does?_

"You do? What do you know?"

"That you're nailing him!" Hyde accused, his voice rising in spite of his attempts to remain cool and in control of the interrogation.

Donna's eyes widened as she jumped up from the bed. "WHAT!" she yelled.

Hyde stood as well, bringing the box that he had been holding behind his back around to the front of his body with great flourish. "I found _this_ in the employees' bathroom at the store!"

Donna peered at the box, angry and reeling from Hyde's accusation. She had to squint a bit to make out the print on the side: early pregnancy test.

"What the hell!" Hyde thought that was hers? And that's why he was smiling like a new shipment had just come in from Hawaii?

"Yeah, apparently you were worried about having a feather-haired little Randy running around?"

"Shut up, Hyde. It's not mine. And I'm not sleeping with Randy. Or anyone else for that matter."

"You sure about that?" he asked, giving her one last chance to fess up.

Donna glared at him menacingly, leaning forward as if giving serious consideration to hurting him.

"Okay, okay," Hyde conceded, throwing his hands up in defeat.

Satisfied that she had convinced Hyde of her non-involvement with the item in question, Donna's thoughts started wandering. The wheels in her head started turning.

"But _someone_ must be," she said, thinking out loud. Suddenly, she gasped.

"Jackie!"

Hyde's breath caught in his chest. He couldn't have heard her right. Shaking his head, he asked, "Wh-what?"

_Jackie? Taking a pregnancy test? Shit. How could that even…?_

Hyde's mind was racing, trying to do the math in his head. It had been three…no, four months since the last time they slept together. If Jackie had gotten pregnant, she would have known long before now. He knew from experience that she usually panicked and ran out to buy a test the second she was late for her…woman thing. He let out the breath he had been holding, relieved. _Nope, it couldn't be Jackie's._

Donna's eyes narrowed as she walked past Hyde and said, almost to herself, "That little midget's been holding out on me!"

Hyde turned as his eyes followed her. "What are you babbling about?"

She raised her eyes to meet his. "Jackie. She's been out with this vendor guy from the salon, but only, like, two or three times. I mean, she said it was no big deal, but-" she cut herself off then, gesturing toward the box that Hyde was still holding. She decided that standing here speculating was a waste of time. She was going to go straight to the source.

"I'm calling her," she announced before marching back to her bed and picking up the phone on her nightstand.

As Donna dialed the number of the salon, Hyde walked somewhat aimlessly around the room, dazed. He didn't even hear Donna's end of her conversation with Jackie as he was too wrapped up in his own thoughts.

_Since when is Jackie seeing…_andsleeping _with some salon guy_? _And why the hell didn't I know about it?_ _Not that I care, of course, but news like this usually makes its way around pretty damn quickly._

He glanced at Donna out of the corner of his eye. _Donna's known about this…why didn't she tell me? I have every right to-_

Hyde shook his head then. _No. No, I don't have any right to know what's going on with Jackie. It's…she's…none of my damn business. We broke up. She can do whatever she wants. Damn, I _married_ someone else. I have no business thinking about Jackie. Or punching people for talking about Jackie. Or wanting to strangle the life out of whatever asshole it is that's gotten her pregnant._

Hyde's knees buckled under him and he lowered himself to sit at Donna's desk. _Pregnant._ _Jackie could be pregnant. With some other guys' baby._

He always knew she wanted that one day, to get married and have kids. She sure talked about it enough. Hell, it was one of the things that broke them up. But he had been so focused on convincing her that _he_ wasn't ready for it, that he never stopped to think that she might go out and find someone who was.

He pictured her then, her belly all big and sticking out. But not fat; Jackie would never allow that. She'd just look like she had a basketball under her shirt or something. And she'd be smiling, rubbing her stomach. Happy. And she'd look over her shoulder and some strange guy Hyde didn't even know would smile back at her.

He felt like he was gonna puke.

Just as he was considering heading to the bathroom just in case, Donna hung up the phone and announced, "False alarm."

Forgetting he wasn't supposed to care, Hyde asked, "She's…she's not…" His voice wasn't much more than a whisper.

The vulnerability in Hyde's voice surprised Donna. "No, Hyde. She's not."

He started to exhaled loudly, but caught himself. Donna might think he gave a crap. Instead, he let it out slowly, imperceptively, as he pursed his lips and nodded his head, staring at the floor in front of his feet.

It didn't fool Donna. She could tell he was freaked out that Jackie might have been pregnant. She would have given him a hard time about it too, if it hadn't been for that brief flash of concern, mixed with fear that she had heard in his voice. It was the first time since he'd been back from Vegas that he had acted like he gave a damn about anybody.

Well, there was the day that he found out Eric had broken up with her, but that was different. Then, he felt bad for her. He was even pretty sensitive toward her, offering to burn Eric's picture if it would cheer her up. But now? Thinking Jackie was pregnant with a new guy's baby? He wasn't simply _concerned_ for a friend. He was hurting for real.

Now it was Donna's turn to be sensitive to him. "And Hyde? She told me she's not sleeping with that guy," she offered gently.

Hyde only raised his eyes to look at her, saying nothing. Donna stared right back, raising her eyebrows expectantly, demanding some kind of reaction.

He gave her the only one he could share with her. "Good to know," he said evenly,

It was lame and it infuriated Donna. "Are you kidding me with this crap? God, Hyde! Why do you insist on acting like you don't give a damn!"

Hyde stood up to face her. "What do you want me to say, Donna? Jackie's sex-life isn't my problem. Not anymore. She's a big girl. She can sleep with whoever she wants, get knocked up by whoever she wants…whatever."

"I'm not just talking about this pregnancy thing. I'm talking about how you've been acting ever since you got back. Like you hate her or something."

"Come on, Donna. I've always hated Jackie," he said it as casually as he could, even though a sharp pain coursed through his chest as he said the word. "Remember when she was with Kelso? When she had that stupid crush on me? Remember the haiku!" he added, trying to prove his point.

She glared at him. "Yeah, Hyde. I also remember that you cared about her enough to stay with her even when none of us wanted you to. I remember that my room was overrun by unicorns and the Gibb brothers and _you_ making out on my bed for a year and a half because you wouldn't let her stay at her house alone. I remember how crushed you used to be every time you hurt her." She was yelling now. "You were with her for two _freakin'_ years, Hyde, and you almost asked her to marry you. So quit acting like you never cared about her!"

"I don't _want_ to care about her, Donna!" he shouted back at her, taking her off guard. She hadn't expected much more than a 'whatever' from him. "Caring about her was the worst mistake I ever made. It put me in a cheesy motel room, about to propose to a cheerleader who, as it turns out, was there with her naked ex-boyfriend."

"But Hyde, you know that nothing-"

"I know that _now_, Donna, but that's not the point!" Angry at himself for yelling at Donna, he forced himself to take a deep breath and lower his voice. Calm now, he continued through clenched teeth, "The point is that I don't ever want to care about someone so much that they can make me feel that bad again. Y'know, I thought I learned that when my mom left, but I guess I forgot."

Donna was stunned. She had never heard Hyde admit out loud what they all knew to be true: that he was afraid of being hurt. This was so out-of-character for him, she didn't know how to react. So she remained speechless.

Hyde couldn't stand the silence. He knew he had said too much and he knew that he couldn't take it back. So he decided to ignore it and move on.

He cleared his throat. "So…if the test isn't yours, and it isn't Jackie's…whose the hell is it? I mean, that chick Fez was nailing is well past her 'Please, God, don't let the stick turn blue' years, isn't she?"

Donna smiled softly at Hyde's attempt to change the subject and save face. So she went along with it.

"That's true. You don't let customers use that bathroom, do you?"

"Hell no!" Hyde answered, appalled. "Have you _seen_ some of those people? They're a bunch of stoners."

"Right. What was I thinking?" she asked sarcastically. Watching Hyde laugh quietly at his own joke, a thought came to her.

"Um…Hyde? Do you think that test could be…Samantha's?"

"Samantha's?" Hyde repeated, as if he hadn't heard her quite right.

"Yeah…your wife," Donna explained condescendingly.

"I know who she is, Donna," Hyde said, annoyed at her tone.

"Well…?"

"No! No, it's not…I'm sure it's not hers." He tried hard to make his voice sound confident, but he was flustered.

"How do you know? Maybe it is. She did stop by the store yesterday on her way to the airport," Donna pointed out.

"I just know, okay?" When Donna continued staring at him with her arms folded across her chest, he knew she wasn't convinced. "Look, do I have to spell it out for you? We're careful. Very careful. She's on the pill and…" He couldn't look Donna in the eye. "…weuseotherstuffjustincase," he rushed to get the last part out before he could turn his eyes to face Donna again. "There. Happy now?"

Donna made a face. "Happy? No. Completely grossed out? Yes."

"Hey, you asked how I know and, well…there it is."

"You know none of that is foolproof, right? I'm just saying, of the three girls who use that bathroom, she's the only one having sex. It doesn't take Columbo to figure it out, Hyde."

For the second time that day, Hyde felt his knees go out from under him and had to lower himself onto Donna's chair. The color had left his face.

_Crap. This can't be happening. A baby? With _her_? No way. It can't. It just…no way._

Donna could tell he wasn't taking it very well. "What's the problem, Hyde? You're married. You've got a job. She's got a job," she added, trying to stifle the laughter that was threatening. "Your 'Please don't let the stick turn blue' days are supposed to be over, too."

"I…" Hyde tried to say something, but his mind was still reeling. He couldn't form a coherent thought.

"Come on, Hyde. Would a baby be so terrible?" She knew the answer already, but she wanted to hear him say it. She wanted him to hear himself say it.

"Hell yes, Donna! I can't have a kid. A kid needs food all the time and it cries all the time. It sucks the life out of you, man, and it's forever!"

"Well, what do you think marriage is, dillhole?"

_I don't know!_ He screamed inside his head. _Dammit. Up until last week it was kinda cool, but now..._

Donna knew she wasn't going to get an answer out of Hyde. She decided to take advantage of his silent captivity to give him a piece of her mind.

"Look Hyde. I'm going to tell you something and you can listen or not. I really don't care.

This isn't a game. Samantha could be _pregnant_ and the father of her baby hasn't thought about the future except to wonder when she's bringing him his next beer. And even if she isn't pregnant now, Hyde, it could happen one day. Have you guys talked about that at all? Do you even know if she _wants_ kids? Do you know what y_ou_ want?"

He continued staring in front of him, shaking his head weakly in response to her questions. With each one, his heart sunk further and further into his stomach.

"You know what I think, Hyde? I think you decided to stay married to her because you thought it'd be fun. _For now_. But I don't think you've given a second thought to whether you want to be with her a year from now, or ten, or twenty."

"What was I supposed to do, Donna? Kick her out after she'd flown all the way out here?"

"Yes, Hyde! That's exactly what you were supposed to do. Marriage is a big deal. It's huge. It's not something you decide to do on a whim, or continue because you 'might has well keep her around'!"

Hyde couldn't figure out why Donna seemed to be taking this so personally. But her next words erased his confusion.

"You know, it really hurt when Eric backed out of our wedding. A lot. But you know what? He was right. We _weren't_ ready to get married. We've loved each other almost our whole lives, and even _we_ weren't ready for something that big. You knew Sam for three drunken weeks. Do you see what I'm saying?"

Normally, Hyde would have a smartass retort ready to fire back. But the thoughts that were swimming in his head made it impossible to conjure one up. He only nodded numbly and mumbled, "I guess so."

After a moment of sitting silently, Hyde stood up and looked around for his car keys. "Gotta head to the store," he explained as he spotted them on Donna's dresser. Before he could make his way through her bedroom door, Donna's voice stopped him.

"Hyde? Just…just promise me you'll think about what I said," she asked kindly but firmly.

"I will," he muttered.

"And let me know how everything turns out with the…"

He cut her off. "I will."

Hyde drove the route to his record store without paying any attention to the road in front of him. His head was a jumble of thoughts.

_This is crazy. _

_We can't have a baby._

_Donna's right._

_I hardly know Sam._

_I don't want this to be 'forever'._

_What the hell am I doing?_

_Thank God Jackie's not sleeping with that guy._

He was still in a daze as he parked the car and walked into the store. As soon as Leo saw him, he rushed over to him, pulling him out of his fog.

"Hey, man. I think I'm sick, but this thermometer's broken."

"What?" Hyde asked as Leo pulled something white and plastic out of his pocket.

"I bought this fancy new thermometer at the drugstore, but it doesn't even tell the temperature. I think I got ripped off, dude."

He handed the offending item to Hyde, who looked at in confusion. As he recognized it from the picture on the box he had left at Donna's, he began to smile. He closed his eyes and let out all the pent-up air in his lungs. _What a fuckin' relief._

He walked over toward the counter, smiling at his good fortune until he remembered what he had promised Donna about thinking about what she had said. He realized Sam not being pregnant didn't change anything. Donna was right. He was married to a stripper he barely knew and hadn't given a second thought to his future with her. And, if that weren't bad enough, he was still enraged at the thought of his ex-girlfriend being with anyone but him.

This was one hell of a messed up situation. The question now was: what was he going to do about it?


	4. Kitty

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

A/N: I'm so sorry this update is so long in coming. It's a busy time at work and the recent spoilers have sucked some of my enthusiasm. But I've got it back now! Thank you so, so, so much to those of you who've left reviews. If I didn't know there were people out there enjoying this story, it'd be hard to keep writing. I'm working on a finale story for jackiehydelover's contest (Hi Chris!), so it may be another week or so before I can update this. I do have the next two parts and the epilogue outlined, though. It's just a matter of actually writing them! Here's a teaser: next chapter is Eric.

In Case of Emergency

Chapter Four: Kitty

Hyde pushed the door to the living room open with his backside. His arms were full with the sandwich, chips, and soda he planned to eat in front of the television. Samantha had gotten home about an hour before that and, tired from her long flight, was still taking a nap. Hyde didn't want the noise to disturb her, so he came upstairs to watch t.v.

Okay, so he was also a chickenshit.

He didn't want to be in the basement when she woke up. She would probably want to have sex or something, and he was just not up for that. Not after his scare with Donna. And he knew they were going to have to have a talk. They couldn't go on the way things were, that much was sure, but he didn't know where they should go from here. He had no idea what he was going to say to her.

_Have a talk_. God, he sounded like a girl. Or Forman.

"Steven! I'm glad you're here," a female voice called excitedly from behind him.

Hyde spun around to see Mrs. Forman sitting on the sofa with a large cardboard box in front of her on the coffee table. Several of the items had already been taken out and set aside next to it. He saw some lacy things and tissue paper and what looked frighteningly like a photo album.

This was not something he wanted to be a part of.

He tried to make a hasty retreat back into the kitchen, but Kitty's voice stopped him.

"You're just in time to join me on a little trip down memory lane," she giggled.

"Aw, Mrs. Forman," he almost whined.

"Yes, you have to," she directed sternly, answering his question before he could even give voice to it.

Hyde groaned inwardly, then sulked across the floor to join Kitty on the couch. As he sat down beside her, she patted his knee happily.

Forty-five minutes later… 

Kitty sat next to Hyde with her wedding album opened and balancing on their laps. She was poring over a photograph of the wedding party, pointing out the hideous nature of the corsage that Red's mother had picked out for herself.

But she didn't notice that Hyde wasn't paying any attention to Red's mother's flower thing. His eye was glued to the picture directly below it. It was a candid shot of Kitty in her white wedding dress, standing next to Red and smiling up at him. Hyde couldn't believe she had ever been that young; she was practically still a kid. The smile on her face was a familiar one, though. Even now, she could never contain herself when she was happy about something or another.

But as his gaze followed Kitty's in the picture, his eyes widened in shock. Red was smiling too! And it wasn't the evil smirk Hyde was so accustomed to seeing after he or Eric or one of the other kids did something stupid. It was a genuine, honest-to-God, ain't-life-fantastic smile. Like he was actually happy to be signing up for the life he ended up with.

It was weird. Hyde could always tell that Red was a lot softer on the inside than he let on. He knew that, in spite of all the complaining he did about Kitty and his kids, he was fairly content with what he had. But Hyde had never thought about how he had gotten there. He had never imagined Red as a young man, much like himself, meeting Mrs. Forman. Dating Mrs. Forman. Deciding to marry Mrs. Forman.

The way Red usually talked, Hyde always imagined he had gotten hitched grudgingly, to make Mrs. Forman happy. Or to make their parents happy. Or, since it was the Fifties, to get in her pants. But the guy in the picture in front of him looked sickeningly happy to be getting married. Christ, he looked like Forman used to look at Donna.

Hyde snorted a quick laugh, thinking how pissed Red would be to know that.

Still smirking, Hyde began to turn his attention to the opposite page in the album. The picture there stopped him short, wiping the smirk immediately from his face. It was of Mrs. Forman looking down at the bouquet of flowers she was holding to her nose, shot from behind her shoulder. The pose was almost identical to the portrait Jackie had insisted on getting done professionally for the yearbook her senior year.

Immediately, an image of Jackie standing in the mall, wearing a wedding dress, flashed in his mind. He hadn't thought of that day in a long time, but he was remembering every bit of it now. She had looked incredible: her skin, her hair, her eyes, everything. It had stunned Hyde so much that, even though he was usually reluctant to compliment her too often, he couldn't stop himself from telling her that she looked beautiful.

And it wasn't just that. At that moment, with her hair swept up and wearing that gown, she wasn't a high school girl anymore; she was a woman. He remembered thinking that maybe Jackie was right. Maybe she was born to be a bride. And maybe it wouldn't be so bad if he were the guy to make her one.

Of course, then she had opened her big mouth, babbling on and on, all excited about pink ponies or riding doves to Hawaii or something ridiculous like that, and the moment was gone.

Hyde frowned, thinking about Jackie's face that day. The smile that had appeared on it had been as big as he had ever seen, as big as the one on young Mrs. Forman's face in the picture with Red. He sighed deeply, thinking that he hadn't seen Jackie smile like that in a long time. Not since before Chicago.

Kitty noticed Hyde's shift in mood and immediately abandoned her reminiscing to switch into mothering mode.

"Oh, Steven," she said sympathetically as she closed the album on her lap. "Are you thinking about Samantha? About your own wedding?"

Hyde furrowed his eyes and looked back at her, confused. "Um, not exactly."

It was the truth, sort of. He had been thinking about his wedding. Only it was the wedding he thought he might have had one day, not the one he actually ended up with.

"I know you don't remember your wedding because you were feeling under the weather…"

Hyde interrupted her. "I was plastered, Mrs. Forman. Let's not kid ourselves."

Kitty placed her hands over her ears, not willing to accept the unpleasant facts. "I can't hear you," she sing-songed before clearing her throat.

"I know," she announced happily after a moment. "Why don't you have another wedding? You could renew your vows. I assume there were vows," she added, although she wasn't sure at all. She didn't know the etiquette of quickie weddings in Las Vegas.

Hyde only smiled weakly at her, amused by her consistency. He found it comforting that with everything that had changed this past year, Forman and Kelso leaving, him and Jackie breaking up, he could count on Mrs. Forman to stay the same. She was a mother to the core. No matter which kid it was, hers or not, she wanted to take care of them.

She was eternally optimistic, believing she could close her eyes to the bad and believe only the good. It reminded Hyde of the way Jackie tried to hold it all together when her mom was gone and her dad was shipped off to prison.

But Mrs. Forman was a master at the art. She truly believed she could make things better for everyone she cared about. Over the last few years, Hyde had finally come to accept that he was one of those people that Kitty Forman wanted to fix things for.

That knowledge was probably what gave him the balls to say what he did next.

"Mrs. Forman, I don't want to marry Sam again." His courage, however, did not extend to raising his eyes from the hands he had clasped firmly together in front of him.

"What are you saying, Honey?" Kitty asked. The concern in her voice gave him the strength to straighten up and look directly at her.

"I'm saying… I think I made a huge mistake." He let out some of the hair he had been holding in his chest. He couldn't believe he had finally said it. Out loud.

"You mean marrying her in a drunken stupor?" Kitty asked, trying to lighten the mood. Hyde was not usually so forthcoming and, frankly, it made her a little uncomfortable.

"Well…yes, that," he answered quickly, almost dismissively before continuing. "But… mostly I mean _staying_ married to her after she showed up here and I was all sobered up."

He looked at her sheepishly, afraid of what she might say.

"I see," she managed. Hyde couldn't tell what she was thinking. Was it a good reaction or a bad one? God, if he couldn't get it right talking to Mrs. Forman, how the hell was he going to do it with Sam?

"Can I ask what brought this on?" Kitty was asking him.

Hyde sighed deeply. _Where do I start?_

"Well, it's a lot of things. It just kind of…_feels_ wrong. I don't think I feel married."

Kitty gave him a look that let him know his answer was a good start, but was not going to cut it. He was going to have to spill his guts, like it or not.

"Okay, fine," he began, resigned to his fate. "Last week, I was filling out some insurance cr-…I mean, _paperwork_…"

Kitty smiled at him knowingly and urged him to continue.

"And when I had to pick an emergency contact, I picked you and Red," he explained, and as he heard himself say it, was once again surprised at the denial he had been living in.

Kitty, of course, was touched. "Oh Steven, that's so sweet."

"Yeah but, Mrs. Forman, that's not the point. Don't you think it's kinda weird that I didn't think to put Sam's name down?"

"Well…yes," she agreed.

"Me too," he said, nodding his head. Encouraged by Kitty's affirmation, he continued.

"And Donna said some things the other day about the future and kids and stuff like that and I just…it seriously blew my mind."

"But Steven, don't you want that one day? I'd like to think that living here with us might have warmed you up to the idea of having a family."

"I don't know, Mrs. Forman." He was bordering on whining, so overwhelming was his confusion and his frustration with it. "Maybe I do…just…"

"Not with her?" she finished for him gently.

"Yeah," he answered quietly. "I mean, can you imagine having me for a father and her for a mother? Poor kid wouldn't have a chance."

He tried to play it off as a joke, but he meant it. He had grown up with crappy parents and he was not about to do that to another kid.

"Oh Steven, I think you'll make a wonderful father. _One day_, when you're ready," she added when Hyde looked at her skeptically.

"I just think you'll need someone a little more…conventional, to balance out your…unique style of….well, whatever it is," she finished, giggling.

Hyde knew she meant 'someone like Jackie', but he wasn't ready to go there. Not yet. He cleared his throat, trying to get off the subject of fatherhood.

"So anyway…the scariest part of it is, even Kelso and Fez got my head all messed up. They were runnin' their horny little mouths about…"

He stopped himself when he saw Kitty raise her eyebrows. "Well…about some stuff that would be _way_ too creepy to discuss with you, and it got me thinking."

He lowered his voice and added reluctantly, embarrassed, "I don't feel about her the way a man should feel about his wife."

Kitty felt for the boy in front of her. He had been through a lot since she had known him: being abandoned by his parents, trouble at school, getting arrested.

Loving a girl for the first time.

But, through most of that, Hyde had chosen to go through it alone. He rarely asked for help or let on that he needed it. For Pete's sake, when he wanted her and Red to go to Milwaukee with him to meet his dad, he just stood there in the kitchen, waiting for them to figure it out.

But he was talking now, and she was not about to stop him.

"I mean, it seems like everywhere I go there's some neon sign flashing in my eyes, telling me that I've screwed up royally. Even this album," he said, indicating it with a jab of his hand. "Those pictures of you and Red? I didn't feel like that when I married Sam. I've _never_ felt that way about her. I don't…I don't love her," he added quietly.

"The thing is, Mrs. Forman, I _never_ thought I'd get married. Ever. I didn't want to. My parents were horrible at it…all the married people I ever knew were miserable."

Kitty opened her mouth to defend the cause of married people everywhere, but Hyde cut her off.

"_But_," he stressed, "I could tell that you and Red were pretty happy, even if you do seem to get on each other's nerves an inordinate amount of the time," he added, almost under his breath. "And Eric and Donna were always so nauseatingly perfect together that I could see why _they'd_ want to get married.

"I don't know…after so many years of living with all you normal people, getting married didn't seem quite so intolerable," he said, his mind beginning to wander and trying to pinpoint exactly when it was that his feelings began to change.

Kitty didn't know where Hyde was going with this. "So _that's_ why you decided to marry Samantha?" she asked, confused.

"No," he answered, looking at her pointedly. "That's why I decided to marry Jackie."

Kitty and Hyde looked at one another, both silent, for several seconds. The magnitude of what he had just confessed was not lost on either of them.

"Oh Steven," Kitty sighed, not knowing what else to say. She didn't know exactly what went on surrounding Jackie's move to Chicago. Eric had told her about Jackie's "ultimatum" when she had wanted to know what exactly had caused Steven to drink so much at the beer warehouse the night before Jackie left.

She had tried to explain to Eric that there was absolutely nothing wrong with a young girl deciding that she wouldn't pass up an amazing career opportunity for a relationship that might not have a future, but she didn't think Eric really got it. He was too concerned with sticking up for his friend.

And she couldn't blame him. Steven had been visibly shaken when he read the note telling him Jackie had left for Chicago without waiting for his answer. She and Eric had left him sitting there on the couch, staring straight ahead for almost a half an hour before he finally retreated to his room, where he stayed until dinner.

He had moped around like that for several days after Jackie left, but Kitty had been too preoccupied with Eric leaving to do much to help him. And when he had walked into the kitchen with a packed duffel bag after Eric left, Kitty was surprised to see a genuine smile on his face again. He announced that he was leaving for Chicago and that he might not be back for a day or two, and Kitty understood that he was going there for Jackie.

But she had no idea he planned to propose to her.

Until now.

Kitty felt a sharp pain in her chest for the boy she had helped raise. It all made sense now. _No wonder he had been so upset when he found Michael in Jackie's room. No wonder he had run off for a month without telling anyone where he was going._

She was pulled out of her reverie by Hyde's voice. "I just don't know how everything got so screwed up. One minute I'm deciding it really wouldn't be so bad to…marry Jackie…"

He had to swallow hard over the lump in his throat before he could get those two words out.

"…and the next minute I'm married to some chick I hardly know. Mrs. Forman, what am I gonna do?"

His eyes were pleading with her to help him. She wasn't sure what would be the right thing to say. She had always believed in honoring commitments and didn't like the idea of people getting divorced on a whim. But she also didn't think that a boy as young as Steven should spend the rest of his life miserable, just because of one mistake. Samantha, too, deserved better than to be stuck in a marriage that wasn't much more than a sham.

The pain on Hyde's face compelled her to tap into her maternal strength. He looked absolutely lost and it was her job to help him find his way. She reached for his hand.

"Steven, I think we should call Mr. Anderson. He's a lawyer. We've used him for our wills and for buying the muffler shop…I'm sure he could talk to you about your options."

"You mean, a divorce?" he asked.

"Or an annulment. If you were drunk, Steven, you were not in your right mind when you married her. I'm pretty sure that's grounds for an annulment. But you need to talk to Mr. Anderson about that."

"OK," agreed Hyde. He was relieved, and felt a hopefulness he hadn't known since the drive to Chicago so many months ago. Yes, his life was still a mess, but at least now he was doing something about it. There was light at the end of the tunnel.

Kitty was pleased to see Hyde's expression relax. But she was afraid that might change when he heard what she had to say next.

"I'll go find Mr. Anderson's phone number for you, but there's something you need to do before you call him. You need to talk to Samantha."

"I know, Mrs. Forman, but what do I say? 'I only married you because I was drunk out of my mind'? 'Because I thought the girl _I actually_ wanted to marry cheated on me'? 'And I only told you to stay because I couldn't deal with my ex-girlfriend who, incidentally, I can't stop thinking about'?"

The last part was news to Kitty, though no exactly surprising. But she decided against commenting on it.

"Well, I'd put it a little more delicately than that, but yes. That's the general idea."

Hyde looked unsure that he was up to the task, so she patted his hand and gestured toward the kitchen.

"Come on. I'll make us some chocolate peanut-butter cookies and we'll figure it," she suggested encouragingly.

As she turned to walk toward the door, Hyde stopped her. She turned again to face him and was pleasantly surprised when he bent down and kissed her on the cheek.

"Thanks, Mrs. Forman," he said with more sincerity than she'd ever heard from him.

"You're welcome," she replied.

Hyde followed her into the kitchen, trying not to think about the sleeping stripper in the basement, or the reaction she might have to his announcement. Knowing it was probably inappropriate, he tried to suppress the grin that threatened his face as he thought that he might be a free man again.

But it only grew bigger as he let his mind wander to what that might mean for him.

And, maybe, for Jackie.


	5. Eric

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

A/N: I know this has been unreasonably long in coming and I am so sorry. Writing Another One Bites the Dust sucked up my creative juices for a bit, and then I got really busy in the process of buying a condo. Yay! But I'm back now – I hope someone out there remembers this story  Thank you so much to everyone who's left reviews – they seriously make my day! One more chapter after this and then an epilogue. By the way, what the hll's happened to fanforum?

IN CASE OF EMERGENCY

Chapter Five: Eric

Hyde sat on the couch in the basement with his feet propped up on the spool table, his hands clasped together, resting behind his neck. The phone rang, but he ignored it. He was mesmerized by the latest adventured of Tom and Jerry. After three rings, he sighed and reluctantly picked up the receiver, his eyes still glued to the television set.

"Hello?"

"Hello…Hyde? Is that you?"

At the sound of Eric's voice, Hyde removed his feet from the table and sat up straighter, abandoning the cartoon.

"Forman! Hey man, what's up?"

"Well, it's Saturday, so…"

Hyde didn't get it. "So?"

"So, I always call on Saturday mornings, Hyde."

"You do?" he asked incredulously. "Since when?"

"Well…since the first Saturday I've been in Africa. You're just never awake to know about it. It probably has something to do with the fact that I always call before noon."

"Huh. It's like there's this whole other world that I don't even know about..." His voice trailed off as he wondered if he should cut back on circle time. God, was he turning into Leo already?

"Don't get too excited. Every week the call's the same. I try to tell Mom about what I'm doing here with the kids, but she just cries and says she misses me. Then she makes Red get on the phone and we enjoy eight dollars worth of uncomfortable silence."

Hyde smirked, imagining Red attempting small talk.

"Where is Mom, anyway? I can't believe she hasn't ripped the phone out of your hand by now."

"She's not here, man."

"What?" Eric whined. "But she loves my Saturday morning phone call. She says it's her only reason for living."

"Well, apparently she also lives for taking Red to his doctor's appointments, 'cause that's where she is."

"I can't believe she'd schedule an appointment on Saturday. She knew I'd be calling."

"I don't know, man. You'll have to take it up with her."

"Oh, I will," he affirmed, almost maniacally. "I definitely will."

Hyde smiled at the sound of his scrawny friend's attempt to sound threatening.

"Wait a second." The threatening tone was replaced now with skepticism. "What _are_ you doing up so early? It's only nine o'clock in the morning. Are you still awake from last night or something?"

"I wish. No, we're all going to Six Flags. It was Fez's idea. He's got some wild hair up his ass lately about 'getting out and experiencing life'. Or something…I don't know. Last week we went bowling and to the Putt-Putt. But I put my foot down at roller-skating."

"Maybe he's trying to keep you busy to cheer you up," Eric suggested.

Hyde scoffed. "Why would I need cheering up?"

"Oh, I don't know…maybe because you just got divorced?"

"Annulled," Hyde corrected. "And I'm fine."

"You know, I figured you'd say that because…well…that's what you always say. But I know you Hyde. You like to pretend you're not hurting, even though inside I know you're in pain. Let it out, Hyde. Let it out."

"Would you shut up, Forman?" Hyde barked. "I said I'm fine. The whole thing was a mistake and I'm just glad that it's over."

"So I missed it? There was a real, live stripper living in my basement and she's already gone? I have, like, the worst timing ever. Damn African children and their need for their precious educations!"

"I could run out and snag another one, if you want," Hyde offered. "Apparently I'm pretty good at it."

Eric countered Hyde's smug statement with one that he knew would catch him off guard. "Actually, I kind of figured that you'd be getting back together with Jackie."

At least a dozen witty retorts flooded Hyde's head. Clever burns designed to convince his friend that he was completely over Jackie. That he wasn't so whipped that he'd even _consider_ heading down that road again after so many dramatic break-ups and rushed make-ups. His sarcasm would be thick enough to hide the fact that, not only _had_ he considered it, he'd been thinking about it constantly: at work, in the shower, in his sleep. Hell, even Tom and Jerry reminded him of the chasing after one another he and Jackie had taken turns engaging in.

Yes, there were so many Hyde-like things he could say, but he didn't have it in him. For one thing, he knew Eric would see through him eventually, so why bother prolonging the inevitable? Especially at international long distance rates. For another, he kind of needed to talk about it.

He shook his head, amazed at his thoughts. He never really understood when people – well, Jackie mostly…and sometimes Eric - would go around spouting off about 'needing to talk about their feelings'. He thought it was ridiculous and indulgent. People need food, water, shelter, and Zeppelin; nobody _needs_ to talk. Unpleasant feelings can and should be dealt with by sleeping in, smoking up, and rocking out. Or any combination thereof.

And if that didn't make them go away, put on a pair of shades and ignore them until they do.

But none of his tried and true tricks were any match for what he was feeling right now. The knot in his stomach that had begun with his talk with Red in the kitchen finally relaxed once he told Samantha he wanted an annulment. He had foolishly thought that peaceful, easy feeling of relief would stick around for a while.

But it hadn't.

Almost as soon as he had gotten back from taking her to the airport, a nagging feeling started forming. And it had only grown bigger in the two weeks since, reminding him that only one of his problems was solved. There was still unfinished business to be dealt with.

And, as much as he hated to admit it, that meant talking.

"I don't think that's an option anymore, man." Hyde didn't deny that he still wanted Jackie. But without actually saying the words out loud, he conceded that he had probably run out of chances with her.

"Come on. When has getting back together with you _not_ been an option for Jackie?"

"This is different, Forman. _She's_ different."

"What, is she acting bitchy with you or something? 'Cause I don't know if you've been keeping up with current events or not, but _that_, my friend? Is not different. That's just Jackie – the Shedevil we all know and…tolerate."

Hyde smiled slightly at Eric's burn. He knew his friend well and knew he was missing his family and friends here. And he could hear in his voice that that nostalgia extended to missing Jackie as well. Hyde made a mental note to bag on him about it later.

"No, man. That's what's different. I mean, yeah she was mad when Sam first showed up. _God_, she was pissed," he added for emphasis, remembering the fire in Jackie's eyes before she ran out of the living room that day. He didn't mention her outing with Donna and Fez and how she had gotten drunk and ended up flashing a bar full of strange men. He hated thinking of her in such a pathetic state and knowing he was the one who had driven her to it. Besides, he was pretty sure Donna had already given Eric a full report.

Eric snorted. "After the way she reacted to Laurie and Annette, I can only imagine. I mean, Donna told me how her well-intentioned Girls' Night turned into the Sleepover From Hell. And, knowing Jackie, I'm sure that was only the beginning."

"Actually, man, it ended right there." Eric could hear the surprise in his friend's voice, as if he was just now realizing the fact. "Jackie kind of stopped coming around any time she knew Sam was here. And even when Sam wasn't here…well, I may have been a dick to her."

"No! You?" Eric feigned shock. Hyde's only response was the snort a laugh, so Eric pressed on.

"So then, how do you know she's different?"

"Since Sam left, Donna and Fez have been coming to the basement all the time. They usually drag Jackie along with them and…I don't know, we hang out and stuff. We're actually getting along, if you can believe it. Like, friends or something."

"No. I _don't_ believe it. You and Jackie have never 'gotten along'. Either she was annoying you or you were burning her. Or you weren't talking at all because you were sucking face. Those are the only choices," he told Hyde emphatically.

"What can I say, man? Things change. I mean, she's still kind of annoying with her girly talk, but I guess I got used to it. And we still burn each other, of course, but it's almost like it's out of habit. We're cool." Because he was alone in the basement, he allowed himself a genuine smile, rare for him. He really was glad that things were getting somewhat back to normal in the group, and particularly between him and Jackie. And he didn't want to mess that up.

"So then, what's the hold up? 'Getting along' sounds like an awfully good precursor to 'getting back together' to me. You want her? Get her back."

Hyde sighed loudly and leaned forward with his elbows propped on his knees. He wished it could be that simple. His eyes suddenly felt strained, and he rubbed them with the fingers on his free hand. He silently considered the possibility of what Eric suggested. _Would she really take him back?_

Eric was still waiting for some kind of response, and when he didn't get one, he spoke up again. "You still there?"

Hyde mumbled into the receiver, but Eric couldn't make out what he said. "Hyde, you've gotta open your mouth when you speak, man. A-nun-ci-ate," he drawled over-dramatically.

"I _said_," Hyde spoke loudly into the phone, his lips almost touching the plastic. "I don't know how." He shook his head, disgusted with himself for being such a pansy. He could just imagine the grin on Eric's face, hearing Hyde admit that he was anything less than 100 confident in his ability to score a chick.

He knew his best friend well. "Oh Hyde," Eric said, pretending to be choked up. "You're coming to me for advice with the ladies. Come, let me show you the ways of love, Orphan Boy. I will-"

"Shut the hell up, Forman. I'm trying to get Jackie back, not go skipping off with _you_. Now, are you gonna help me or am I gonna have to hang up this damn phone and ask Randy for advice?"

That wiped the smile of Eric's face immediately. "Okay, here's what you got to do…" He lowered his voice and rushed the words out to let Hyde know he was serious. "Think about what makes Jackie tick. How did you get her back the other times you broke up?"

Hyde snorted. "Well, let's see," he started. "The _first_ time she broke up with me, I apologized all over the place but it didn't work. So I got pissed and Kelso had to come up with some wacky scheme to trick us both into admitting we wanted to get back together. So we did."

Eric remembered how frustrating that whole situation was to witness, but he pretended to consider rehashing it as a viable option. "Hmmm…Kelso's in Chicago, so he's out as orchestrator. Donna's never really been much of a fan of the Wacky Scheme as Reconciliation Tool. And Fez? Well, Fez would probably get so confused you'd end up on a romantic getaway with Crazy Caroline. So, yeah, I think we're going to have to think of something else."

Even though he knew Eric couldn't see him, Hyde shook his head. He felt somewhat relieved that Eric was cracking jokes about his situation. It allowed him to pretend this wasn't the single most humiliating conversation he'd even had in his life. Well, humiliating for him, anyway. He was more accustomed to the others making asses out of themselves on a regular basis.

"What about last year, then? After Stacey Wanamaker's wedding? It seemed like you guys were over for good that time, and next thing I knew you were feeding each other funnel cakes at the auto show."

"What?" Hyde protested. "I never-"

"My mom ratted you out," Eric interrupted.

"Damn."

"Yeah. So what happened there, man?"

Hyde leaned back into the sofa and smiled, remembering the reunion that had taken place in the very same spot. _God, it was hot._

"That's really not such a good example, either. Fez was rambling on about the summer we first started messing around and…well… we…started messing around."

"That's it? No talking? No weepy 'I love yous'?"

"That's it, man."

"I have _got_ to try that," Eric said quietly, to himself more than anything else.

"I wouldn't recommend it, Forman. We just ended up having pretty much the exact same break-up a few months later." Hyde closed his eyes, remembering the pain in Jackie's eyes and the ache in his stomach when he told her to 'have a nice trip'. He felt the same ache now, just thinking about it. "I don't want to do that again," he added quietly.

Eric was taken aback by the sincerity in the voice that was usually gruff or sarcastic. "You really care about her," he marveled out loud.

Hyde had heard those same words before from his friend, in this same room. Then, they were filled with accusation. This time, they carried acceptance. Maybe even approval.

Again, Hyde's lack of denial had to suffice in place of an actual admission. "So what do you suggest I do about it?"

Eric let out his breath loudly into the phone. "I hate to say it, Hyde, but I think we've exhausted all other reasonable options." Nodding his head, he announced, "You're going to have to tell her how you feel."

Hyde's head dropped forward in defeat.

"With words," Eric added.

"Are you sure that's necessary?" Hyde asked skeptically, already knowing the answer.

"Hey, desperate times call for unfathomable measures, my friend."

Hyde groaned. He knew Eric was right, but that didn't stop him from hating it. To say he wasn't comfortable expressing his feelings verbally was a gross understatement. It didn't help matters that the first time he had mustered up the courage, he was rewarded with 'Yeah, well I don't love you." The second time, it was a note saying Jackie had left for Chicago. And the _third_ time, he was treated to a big old helping of Kelso in a towel.

Whoever said the third time's a charm was a moron.

Hyde had no idea what he could say to Jackie to let her know how sorry he was and how badly he wanted her back. There was no way in Hell he was going to tell Eric that, though. He had already given him enough burn ammunition to last a year with all his girly talk and asking for help.

He was just about to open his mouth to say something extra cool and nasty, just toremind Eric that he was the tough one, when the basement door flew open. Donna had come barreling down the stairs and now stood in the basement, breathless.

"Hyde! Get off the damn phone!"

"What the hell's the matter with you, Donna?" Hyde asked, annoyed.

"Mrs. Forman just called my house. She's been trying to reach your for fifteen minutes, but the line's been busy. They're taking Red into emergency surgery and she needs us to bring some of his things to the hospital."

"_What_!"

"Look, just hang up the phone. I'll explain everything on the way." She bounded up the stairs to retrieve the items on the list Kitty had read to her over the phone.

Hyde was momentarily frozen, until he heard Eric's voice in the receiver.

"Hyde? What's going on? Is that Donna? Did she say something about my dad?"

_Shit._ What the hell was he supposed to say to Forman? "Hey, man. I gotta go. I'll…I'll call you…damn it…can you be near a phone in, like, an hour?"

Eric could tell something was very wrong, but he tried to keep the fear out of his voice. "Yeah…yeah, my mom has the number."

"Okay, man…okay," Hyde said absently as he stood up and looked around for his car keys.

"Hyde!" The urgency in Eric's voice snapped Hyde's attention back to the phone. "Is my dad okay?"

_Shit._ "I…" _Shit shit shit._ "I don't know. I'll call you from the hospital. In an hour."

Eric didn't respond.

"Okay, man?" Hyde asked. "I gotta…I gotta go…"

"No…no, it's okay. Go."

Hyde hung up the phone, not bothering to say goodbye. He grabbed his jacket and keys and raced up the stairs to start the car. He didn't even notice he had left the television on.

Or that his sunglasses still sat next to the phone.


	6. Jackie

Disclaimer: Same old, same old.

A/N: I am thoroughly embarrassed at how long it's taken me to get this update out. I've known since I started this story _a year ago_ exactly how it would end. I had every chapter outlined. I just couldn't get this one written. The end of the season and the horrible finale really killed my motivation to write for a while. But time and space did wonders and I was able to let these crazy kids back inside my head. So I offer you the last chapter. I'd recommend at least skimming over the previous chapters before reading this one, because it's really meant to be read as kind of a departure from the pattern set up in the first five chapters and if you forget what the first five chapters are like, well, then the whole "departure" thing is kind of lost (which is totally my fault since I let so much time pass, but anyway…).

I want to thank everyone who's continued to read this story and continued to leave me feedback, encouraging me to continue the story. Knowing that there were people out there who wanted it was really what motivated me to get it out there. You guys are awesome!

IN CASE OF EMERGENCY

Chapter Six: Jackie

Hyde kept his hand on the cold receiver of the pay phone for a long while after placing it gently back on its cradle. He knew there wasn't anybody behind him waiting for it and probably wouldn't be for a while. Several people had made the mistake of asking him how much longer he'd be and were told rather gruffly to "go the Hell away". They didn't know that the wild-haired teenager was on the line to his best friend in Africa. Or that he had spent the entire day before and all of last night updating him regularly on his father's condition. They couldn't tell from looking at him that during the third call, he had had to break the news that the man might not make it. They had no way of knowing that that he thought making that call might damn near kill him, too. But just from outward appearances, the steely blue eyes, the tight jaw, the clenched fists – it wasn't hard to figure out that this was a guy who didn't want to be bothered.

So they stayed away. And Hyde was grateful, because if there was ever a time he wanted to be alone, this was it. It occurred to him that most people would want to be celebrating with loved ones at a moment like this. He knew that's what the others were doing back in the Intensive Care waiting area. They were probably all hugging each other and the girls were probably crying. Hell, Fez and Bob were probably crying right along with them. The truth was, he suspected that if he had stayed with them, he probably would be, too.

But Hyde was Zen. And Hyde wasn't in the Intensive Care waiting room. He was two floors down, in an alcove by the stairwell. He had found this pay phone early yesterday, before his second call to Eric, the one when he told him Red was going into surgery. People left him alone there, so he returned faithfully for each subsequent call: when Red started failing on the table, when they eventually stabilized him, when the surgery was finally over, and when they downgraded his condition from critical to stable.

So it only seemed right that he come back to the phone that, over the course of last twenty-four hours, he considered "his" to make the final call. When he could let Eric know that, after what was probably the most agonizing wait of his life, his dad was going to be all right.

When it came time, he could barely get the words out. His throat was raw from the strain of holding back his emotions throughout this entire ordeal. Thankfully, Eric didn't ask for too many details. It was enough for now to know that Red was going to make it. He had been up all day and night waiting for Hyde's updates and now he was exhausted. He said he was going to pass out for a couple hours and would see about getting a flight back to the States in the morning. Hyde was relieved to be let off the hook. Besides the fact that he didn't understand the intricacies of the open-heart surgery – all he knew was that a major blockage was detected during his check-up and it had to be dealt with immediately – he just didn't have it in him to talk about it right now.

He finally stepped away from the pay phone booth and turned back toward the stairwell that would take him back upstairs. He thought of everyone else waiting up there, and he stopped. He knew he should be up there, to be with Kitty if nothing else, but he couldn't make himself do it. Emotions had to be riding high, and he just couldn't deal with trying to keep everyone calm. Not when he felt anything but calm himself.

He decided he had to get himself together before he faced everyone else. He had to get his Zen back. If they saw him rattled, there's no way any of them would be able to regain any semblance of control. So he took a few steps away from the stairwell and sat down in one of the two chairs resting against the wall. It was your typical hospital chair – hard, orange plastic – not comfortable, but served its purpose.

As soon as Hyde's legs were free of his weight, he sunk into the chair and deflated, his entire body feelinglike Jello. As his feet slid forward and his legs stretched out, his head fell back until he was staring at the fluorescent light overhead. He closed his eyes against the intensity of it and, when that wasn't enough to quell the burning in them, he draped an arm across his face.

He kept hearing Eric's pained voice from just a few moments ago in his head: "He almost…Hyde, I don't know what I would have done if…"

Knowing what Eric meant, Hyde had cut him off before he could say it. "No, man. These doctors are good. They do these heart surgeries all the time. It's just another day at the office for them." He had tried his damnedest to sound confident and casual, but the concern in his voice couldn't be disguised and Eric felt strangely comforted by it.

Hyde was another story. Throughout the entire stay he had been strong for Eric and for everyone else upstairs. He didn't say much except when giving his reports to Eric or telling Kitty that he was sure Red would be okay. When things went to Hell on the operating table and the doctors weren't sure he would make it, Hyde had told Kitty he knew Red would pull through. But the truth was he wasn't sure of that at all. And he had never been so scared in his life.

Just remembering those moments brought back that sinking feeling in Hyde's stomach. He pushed his head away from the wall and allowed it to fall forward into his hands, his elbows now resting on his knees. He shook his head slowly, back and forth, trying to rid his mind of the thoughts that had invaded it over the last twenty-four hours.

What if Red didn't make it? How would he be able to tell Eric? To find the words to tell his best friend that his father was dead? What would he say to Kitty? Would Eric move back home or would Hyde have to take care of Kitty? Did they make enough between the two of them to manage the mortgage? Would Kitty even want to stay in that house? Would she want him to stay or would she want him to move out? What would happen to him?

Hyde wasn't normally a worrier. He usually just took his licks as they came. He had felt this panicked helplessness only once before and he hated it. The feeling was overwhelming. He stomped his foot on the linoleum floor in a vain attempt to rid himself of the memory of it and to stop the hot tears that were pooling in his eyes.

Thinking he was alone in the little alcove, he was surprised to hear a tiny gasp in response to his stomp. He jerked his head up quickly to find Jackie standing in the entryway, only a few feet in front of him.

Still leaning forward, elbows still resting on his knees, he took in her face. The surprise at finding him on the brink of tears had left her eyes as her face softened. He recognized her expression immediately. Some might have thought it was sympathy or even pity. But he knew her face better than anyone and he knew her eyes and knew that they held only understanding for the pain she felt too and wished she could take away.

Seeing the love in her eyes, that he hadn't seen for so many months, that he thought he'd never see again, was too much on top of everything else that had happened over the course of the day. The tears that had been building in his eyes spilled over onto his cheeks. He couldn't look at her anymore and lowered his head once again into his hands, breathing deeply to try to make the tears stop.

Jackie stood still for just a moment, stunned. She had never seen Hyde cry. There had been times when she thought she had detected some moisture in the corners of his eyes when she knew he was upset. Like that awful day in the El Camino when he told her he had cheated, and later when he told her he loved her. And there were other times, too. Those times when they'd be talking in his room at the Formans' about their parents and other sucky things in their lives and he'd get real quiet. Those times were unusual, because he didn't want to get stoned or have sex or anything like that. There was only one thing that would make him feel better.

Looking at him now, sitting alone in a plastic chair at the hospital, she didn't know what else to do. She took a step toward him and stopped, afraid she might be making a mistake. His shoulders rose and fell again as she heard him let out another deep, shaky breath and she knew that he needed her. She walked the last few remaining steps across the alcove until she was standing directly in front of him. Her hands shook just a little bit when she lifted them above his lowered head, and when she laid them gently in his hair he took in a sharp breath. She was still for a moment, wondering what he was thinking.

Hyde thought he'd never felt anything as good having Jackie's hands in his hair again. He had been so sure he would never feel it again, that he had put the memory of it out of his mind. He didn't want to remember it.

But he was remembering it now. He remembered how it used to feel, just lying in bed in the middle of the night while Jackie would play with his hair. And how sometimes he'd feel so quiet and peaceful with her that he'd start talking, maybe about something that happened when he was a kid, and he'd open up, just a little…just enough…about his mom and Bud and what it was like for him every time they left. And how he liked having WB around, but was still kind of scared he'd leave one day, too. Jackie was smart enough to know that those moments were rare and precious, and she didn't want to do or say anything to ruin it. So she wouldn't. She'd just lie on the pillow, facing him, and hold his hand. Or she'd open her arms to him and, without a word, he'd move closer to her and lay his head on her chest while she played with his hair.

Jacke felt a tightening in her chest as the memories of those times came rushing back to her. She remembered what always came next: Steven exhaling deeply, finally relaxing into her, holding her firmly but gently. It was a vulnerable side to him that he never showed to anyone else, and she always felt special knowing that he trusted her enough to let her see. But it wasn't happening now. In the seconds that had passed since Jackie laid her hands on his head, Hyde hadn't moved. He hadn't sighed and he hadn't relaxed. He sat completely still in his chair, his head unmoving as it rested in his hands. In fact, Jackie wondered if maybe he had even stiffened slightly at her touch. She didn't know what to do. This had never happened before. Her hands in his hair had always, _always _comforted him before.

Squeezing her eyes closed tightly, Jackie took a deep breath and lifted her hands from Hyde's head. She hesitated just a second before pulling them back toward her chest and resting her arms at her side. She opened her eyes to allow herself one more look at Hyde before slowly turning to walk back toward the stairwell. Her exit was stopped short, though, as Hyde's hands suddenly reached forward and grabbed her firmly by the wrists. She was momentarily thrown off balance, but quickly regained her footing as she once again turned to face Hyde directly, staring down at him in surprise. He was looking up now, his lips pressed together in a thin line, eyes glistening, eyebrows raised in silent question. His chest rose and fell with his shallow breaths. It took only a second to register: he wanted her to stay.

The tiniest of smiles tugged at the corners of Jackie's mouth, then disappeared as she nodded almost imperceptibly. She stepped into him, closing her eyes as she felt his hands leave her wrists and slide onto her hips, leaving her hands free to return to his head. Then it was his turn to let his eyelids fall to cover his eyes, as if the few seconds he looked into her face had taken too much out of him. She buried her fingers deeper into his curls and moved even closer, allowing him to slide his hands all the way around her and rest his head gently against her abdomen. He squeezed her tightly, letting her know that yes, this was what he wanted. Feeling strong, feeling confident in Steven's need for her, Jackie bent down to press a brief kiss on the top of his head before straightening up again and returning her attention to pulling her fingers through his hair. He exhaled deeply then, relaxing, his shoulders slumping forward against her hips. Jackie raised her eyes to the ceiling in a vain attempt to keep the tears welling up in her eyes from falling. It didn't work, of course, and as soon as Jackie blinked, they skipped down her cheeks and disappeared into Steven's curls.

Hyde thought he felt wetness on his head, but he didn't say anything. His breathing had finally regained some semblance of normalcy, but he didn't think he was up to talking just yet. He wasn't sure there were words for what he was feeling right now anyway. The only one echoing through his head was _This_. As he sat in that cold, quiet, sterile, hospital alcove, his arms wrapped tightly around Jackie, his tears drying on his cheeks, he was struck by the realization that _this_ was exactly where he wanted to be. Not trying to shake off the day's events by smoking up with Leo or drowning himself in beer with the guys. But here, with Jackie. _Anywhere_ with Jackie. Nothing else mattered.

The way he felt with Jackie in his arms, her hands in his hair, her heart beating softly against his cheek…_this_ was what he wanted. It's what he had wanted ever since the first time she kissed him on the hood of his El Camino and what he tried his damnedest to forget after she brushed it off and got back together with Kelso. What he had always been afraid to want because it was for other people, not guys like him. What he had convinced himself he didn't need after he thought he had lost it for good in that hotel room in Chicago.

He thought about the small group of pretty decent people in the waiting room two floors up, people who had shown him in many ways over the years that they cared about him. And in spite of that, he had scoured the hospital for this alcove, this private place where he could hide. Because no matter how much those people cared about him and, as long as he was admitting things tonight, he cared about them too, he didn't want to be around them right now.

Except Jackie. He chuckled slightly at the irony in the fact that Jackie, the one person whose presence he once found so irritating, was the one person he wanted to be with in this moment. Somehow over the last three years, she had become not only the girl he wanted to hang out with and party with and sleep with, but the only girl, except Donna, that he ever _really_ talked with. And now she was the only girl he had ever cried with.

And then it hit him. _This_ was what Red had been talking about that day in the kitchen. He smiled to himself at the simplicity of it all. It was Jackie. Jackie was the one he wanted by his side in the good times and the bad times. Jackie was the one whose face he'd want to see if he was the one recovering from surgery in a hospital bed. Jackie was the one who he wanted to be his emergency contact.

_I really do love Jackie. I love her and I want to be with her. Maybe even forever. _Holy Crap

He lifted his head from her stomach then, searching her face for any clue that she could sense the enormity of what he had just decided. All he found was the same caring look in her eyes that had been there since she found him just a few minutes before. She had no idea.

He couldn't wait to tell her. And he was going to tell her everything, finally, all of it.

But not right now, not in a hospital full of strangers walking by every few minutes. Not while they were re both exhausted from being up all night, waiting to hear about Red. No, he'd tell her later. He'd take her someplace that she'd like. Maybe that one restaurant – no, not a restaurant. The reservoir. He'd drive her up there and park the car and they'd sit on the hood and he'd tell her. He would look her straight in the eye, just like he was doing now, maybe even hold her face still with his hands to be sure she knew he meant what he said, and tell her.

He'll tell her that he knows without any doubt that she's the one he wants to be with and he's ready to make a real commitment to her. He'll tell her how sorry he is that he was too afraid before to hope for a future together. He'll tell her how it tore his heart out to tell her "I don't know" and how he'd thought he might die when he told her "Have a nice trip" and she walked out of the basement and he thought he might never see her again. He'll tell her why he really drove up to Chicago and how sorry he is that he didn't give her a chance to explain that nothing was going on with Kelso. And he'll tell her that even though he's sorry he married Samantha at all and didn't divorce her sooner, in a way he's glad everything happened the way it did. Because going through the motions of a relationship with the wrong person made him realize how badly he wanted the real thing with Jackie. He'd tell her how everything that freaked him out when he was with Sam, just the idea of listing her as his emergency contact, having a wedding with her, having a _baby_ with her, didn't freak him out anymore when he pictured it with Jackie. It actually felt…right.

His heart beat faster just imagining the look on her face when he finally did it. He didn't even wonder if she'd be happy, if she'd take him back. He could tell from the way she was looking at him right now, from the way her hands were sliding softly, slowly, down the sides of his face, that she still loved him. For the first time, he let himself believe that she'd probably never stop. The idea that he could believe that about another person amazed him. He reached up to take her hands in his.

"Jackie?" He hardly recognized his own voice, it was so raw and raspy from minimal use. And it was so soft, he wondered for a split second if she'd even heard him.

But she raised her eyebrows and offered him a small, sweet smile. It was all the encouragement he needed.

"I love you."

It came out evenly, with conviction, not like when he rushed it out, practically choking on it, the only other time he said it to her out loud. It occurred to Hyde that maybe it was because the first time he said it he was motivated by the fear of losing her and a need to convince her of his feelings for her. Maybe he wasn't even sure himself at the time that what he felt for her really was love. But this time was different. He knew exactly what it was that he felt for her and he knew that she still felt the same way. It was clear from the way she had gone to him without a word, knowing what he needed even before he did. It was all over her face now.

So he wasn't surprised to see her eyes welling up with tears or to hear her squeak out, "Oh, Steven. I love you, too."

He smiled at her then as her face crumbled. The weight of the emotions from the day's events, not to mention the last three years, took its toll as Jackie sunk onto Hyde's lap. Instinctively, his arms tightened around her waist as hers fastened around her neck, her face buried in his neck. He stroked her back as she cried.

He smiled into her shoulder. _Oh yeah. This is definitely it._


End file.
